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To what extent can social entrepreneurship be a positive tool for development? by Magatte Camara

Today, with social and economic inequalities growing worldwide, doing business in a more ‘friendly’ way is on the rise. In other words, it is possible both to make money and contribute to social development. This concept is more commonly known as called social entrepreneurship. This essay will demonstrate that social entrepreneurship can be employed as a positive tool for development. Assessing evidence, it will be shown that the positive impact that social enterprise can have on societies in the developing world is huge. The difference between such initiatives and pure business will also be explored. This is significant because not only do social enterprises create employment (like any form of business), at a time when global youth unemployment is high- but depending on their product or service, their activities can also have significant benefits for communities, marginalized groups, and even the environment (Darko 2015). Social enterprise can also make contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), particularly ‘Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth. In many respects, the social enterprise revolution has been a great success, however, this paper will argue that social enterprise cannot alone achieve everything and there are limitations and challenges.